Three Horrors for Halloween: Walking Dead, Session 9, and Severed

Not sure where you’re living, but where I’m at it’s going to be cold and possibly wet, so I plan on barricading myself inside for most of the weekend. Before you start in on me, it is completely sane if I am doing it to pluck out my own hair and eat the follicles. Don’t you judge me! But before setting in for this weekend adventure, I figured I would point you in the direction of some other things that can give you the shivering creeps for Halloween!

Severed TPB – Image Comics

Horror comics have to be very well done to make the hair on the back of your neck stand up. They are unable to lean on some of the cheaper methods that movies employ like sudden pop ups (although web comics are moving this direction) or some NIN track blaring in the background to set the mood. Severed from Scott Snyder, Scott Tuft and Attila Futaki did more than just give me the heebie jeebies, it downright made me queasy from all the tension!

Set in the early 1900’s during a time in America that predators could go years and years and sometimes even their lifetime without being caught, it follows one such monster as he stalks a young man who is a very gifted musician.I know what you are thinking, the man wants to do to the boy what Dateline NBC tries so hard to stop, and you would be wrong. It is a much different story, with incredibly gorgeous art provided by Futaki. Very dark , extremely creepy and twisted in such a wicked and devilish way, Severed is more great horror from Scott Snyder, who has proven himself masterfully on titles like American Vampire and Batman in the past few years.

Session 9 – Netflix Instant Queue – USA Films

Session 9 from director Brad Anderson (The Machinist, Fringe) follows a crew of men removing asbestos from an old building, which wouldn’t you know, happens to be an abandoned mental hospital. One of the men on the crew finds some audio recordings of one of the most disturbed of the former patients. The film’s strongest assets are the mood and atmosphere, which are created through a blend of disorienting, skin-crawling audio and sun soaked video that still manages to come across as dirty and filthy. Highly recommend this for a daytime watch, as it is one of the few horror flicks I would recommend doing so, but it just adds to the atmosphere of the film so much. Also, bonus if you can watch the film in an asbestos-filled insane asylum!

The Walking Dead (PC, PS3, X-Box 360) – Telltale Games

Without a doubt, this is my favorite Walking Dead product out there! Yes, I even enjoy it more than the comics or the TV show. Why? The interaction and placing you in the shoes of someone who has to make those hard decisions. After playing this game, you are going to have a hard time criticizing Rick’s choices anymore.

Using the tried and true Telltale game system which is a mixture of point & click and quick-time events, most of the game plays out more like an interactive movie than traditional videogame, but is a perfect format for a series that is more about the evil of men than blasting zombies in the head. Although, you do get to blast some zombies in the head, but you will also be making choices on who gets fed, the best way to get someone out of a bear trap, and backing down the other @sshole characters in your little band of survivors.

The real treat of the game is your interaction with a young girl you have sworn to protect name Clementine. I am not a father, but my parenting instincts kicked in immediately as I made decisions based on what I think would be best for her and the rest of the group can fend for themselves! There are a few flaws in the game here or there, and if you want to hear a much more in depth review of the game, head on over to Signed In Podcast who has talked about it over several episodes. The game is 5 episodes, with each episode costing right around $5 (Disc version with all the episodes coming before Christmas). I am 4 episodes into the game so far, and it feels like my $20 investment has netted me about $250 worth of enjoyment. No joke, incredible game.

—————————————————————— When John is not too busy reciting the Necronomicon to a classroom of 1st graders in hopes of appeasing the dark lord, he is blabbing on mindlessly about comics on the Burnt Weiners Comic Book Podcast. He makes a hobby out of knowing next to nothing about comics, but loving them all the same. We strongly discourage you from checking out Burntweiners.com. They cannot even spell “wieners” correctly.